The Nook Simple Touch Reader can rest comfortably in your hand for hours on end. It’s noticeably lighter than the Kindle, and the contoured back coupled with the rubberized matte finish gives you a good grip. More hands-on impressions ahead: More »
Not to be outdone by Kobo, which just unleashed its latest E Ink reader yesterday, the folks at Barnes & Noble are back with the latest update to their line of Nook devices. The “all new” Nook has the same Zeforce infrared touch layer as the aforementioned Kobo, and lasts up to two months on a single charge. The Pearl E Ink screen boasts “80-percent less flashing” during page turns, something that many fans of the devices have resigned themselves to having their eyes assaulted by. B&N is also quite proud of its streamlined interface which it brags has 37 less buttons than the Kindle 3. Around the back is a soft-touch rubber surface that should feel great in the hand while reading, though, we’ll have to wait to manhandle one ourselves to be sure.
The new Nook has a redesigned home screen with your current reading list and suggested titles. It also adds a few new features like FastPage Zoom forward, which lets you jump to any page in a title, and (finally) displays the number of pages left to go. Inside is Android 2.1, 2GB of storage, which can be expanded using the microSD slot, and a WiFi radio — but sadly no 3G. You’ll also be able to share quotes, lend books, and update your status on social networks using Nook Friends, which debuted last year with the Nook Color.
You can pre-order online and in stores now and the updated Nook should start shipping to customers June 10th. You’ll also be able to pick one up at BestBuy, Walmart, Books-A-Million, and Staples for $139 at the same time.
Update: We just got a brief hands-on with B&N’s svelte new Nook, and it’s a sexy piece of hardware. It’s incredibly light and thin (quite a bit thinner than its predecessor) and the rubbery back feels pleasant in the hand. We were only able to poke around the software for a short while, but it’s certainly more responsive than the original Nook (as you’ll see in the video below). While there is less screen flashing during refreshes there is still some, and it actually might be more jarring now that you’re not seeing it every page turn.
Gallery: Barnes and Noble BEA Event 2011
Gallery: Touch Enabled Nook Hands-On
Continue reading Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139 (video)
Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Barnes and Noble’s new, second-gen Nook isn’t a bigger, iPad-sized device. Nor is it a hybrid reader with dual, E-Ink and LCD screens. Instead, it’s a small, cheap E-Reader…with a touchscreen and a battery that lasts TWO MONTHS on a single charge. Updating live… More »
What do you do just before you decide to upgrade your old device with some new hotness? You sell the old stuff on eBay, right? Well, B&N doesn’t seem to have any better ideas than you as it’s started offering its classic Nook e-reader for $99 on the online auction site, undercutting its own price by $50. This is the WiFi-only dual-screen unit, as you might surmise, not the Color tablet that’s been treading dangerously close to being a fully fledged Android slate. If you’re an E Ink loyalist on a budget, this might just be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, though don’t blame us if Barnes & Noble comes up with a fancier, more lustworthy model in the time it takes for that free delivery to reach your door.
[Thanks, Sheldon]
Barnes & Noble selling Nooks for $99 on eBay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’re planning to pick up a Nook Color, keep an eye out for a little blue dot on the box — no, they’re not defective, but new models with the dot have been tweaked to make sure Barnes & Noble retains control of most of that (already limited) internal storage. Updated partitioning leaves just 1GB of internal storage for sideloaded content, such as music and movies, with the remaining 4GB reserved for content purchased from the book and app stores. Previous models allowed sideloaded content to utilize all 5GB of available storage, but the change was made “to ensure ample space for a customer’s Nook Library and Nook Apps,” according to B&N. We’re sure you could figure out how to reclaim those extra gigs, but you won’t be able to transfer your entire music library out of the box. Luckily, the Nook still has its microSD slot, allowing you to add up to 32GB of storage for music, movies, and whatever other content you need to keep yourself from using your e-reader to actually read.
[Thanks, Mark]
PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Barnes and Noble’s Nook Android app now supports magazines, tablets, your Cosmo obsession originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s not often that we get word of a new gadget by way of an SEC filing, but Barnes & Noble has broken with tradition with an 8-K report that reveals its intentions to introduce a new e-reader. The form, filed earlier today, says that the company “indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device,” and goes on to say that the form was filed “solely to satisfy the requirements of Regulation FD.” Said regulation was instated back in 2000 to address concerns over insider trading. All that sounds good to us, but we wish there was a clause that required them to include a spec sheet. Considering the Nook Color just got Froyo, is it possible we’ll be seeing a Honeycomb version come the 24th? It looks like we’ll just have to wait and see.
Barnes & Noble to release new e-reader, according to securities filing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 20:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
At last, Barnes and Noble is defending itself against the Microsoft lawsuit filed back in March claiming that B&N’s Android-based “e-reader and tablet devices” are infringing upon Microsoft’s IP. A portfolio strengthened significantly thanks to that little Nokia partnership. We’re not going to pick apart B&N’s response in detail. However, we’d like to focus on this little nugget of FUD asserted by Barnes and Noble’s legal team:
On information and belief, Microsoft intends to take and has taken definite steps towards making competing operating systems such as the Android Operating System unusable and unattractive to both consumers and device manufacturers through exorbitant license fees and absurd licensing restrictions that bear no relation to the scope and subject matter of its own patents.
Grrrowel. But B&N does make a good point about Redmond’s intentions. Microsoft has been repeating the mantra that Android is not free for awhile now. In fact, Steve Ballmer told CNN just last year that, “there’s nothing free about android… there’s an intellectual property royalty due on that whether [Google] happens to charge for that software or not.” A tack Microsoft (and Apple) has been keen to pursue through litigation with Motorola and a licensing deal with HTC. And this is only the beginning. Android: free like a puppy. Relive Steve’s immortal words in the video after the break.
Barnes & Noble says Microsoft trying to make Android ‘unusable and unattractive,’ has a point originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The upcoming firmware update for the Nook Color is shaping up to be a hefty one for the e-reader-turned-Android tablet. Barnes & Noble has now announced that it’s officially opening up the device to developers, and will be taking app submissions through its developer site effective immediately. The Nook has long been one of the best bangs for your buck in the ever-expanding world of Android tablets, and all that’s left now is Honeycomb — and no, the hacked port doesn’t count.
B&N accepting Nook Color app submissions, because you can never have too many app stores originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Adhering to strict alphabetical order, where Amazon leads, Barnes & Noble follows. The Kindle was last week announced to include access beyond the New York Times‘ freshly erected online paywall as part of its device subscription to the NYT and now, lo and behold, the Nook family (including the Nook Color) is following suit in identical fashion. If you’re happy to obtain your sub to New York’s finest paper from the Nook Newsstand — which costs $20 per month, same as Amazon’s levy — you’ll get the bonus, complimentary, free-of-charge privilege of being able to access NYTimes.com without any constraints as well. So what if the online edition used to be free for the past eleventy years? The new Times dictates some fealty be paid and we’re happy to see these e-reader purveyors helping to alleviate (mask?) that cost for some of us. Full PR after the break.
Nook matches Kindle by bundling free web access to NYTimes.com with digital edition sub originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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